For Phil I think that's a bit different, mostly because youtube was more a place to find friends that fans when he first started, and there really was no such thing as internet celebrities until he became on of them.

I do agree with Dan’s look on fame/success I also think that people tend to forget Phil maybe started YouTube for friends but he did push to become some what in the public eye. He auditioned for big brother, movie roles, tv adverts and that’s the few things we know about. I don’t think if YouTube didn’t work out he’d would of stuck to finding a “normal” job. And even with YouTube he pushed aswel he’d do competitions and got dan to do them too. He knew what he had to do to grow an audience and that’s not a bad thing at all. When now days YouTube fame is a bit different. I think If the reality shows that we have now were on tv back then he’d be auditioning for every one. I think Phil knew if you want to be successful now days it’s celebrity fame that gets you far if! You can get there, YouTube was a great way to do what he wanted and he took every opportunity he could find. I don’t think he sat around and it all happened It wasn’t as organic as we see it as. Which again there’s nothing wrong with that it just shows the difference and dependacy on what their audience views are on them individually. I think dan is hugely dependent on how his audience views him where Phil is gonna do what he wants and give what opinions or lack of he wants. Phil has said before he doesn’t let the comments effect him as much. I think this is different from dan. I don’t think it’s easy doing a job like this and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t have people giving opinions and hearing theories on me and my personal life. I think Phil is the sort of person who is cut out for it where dan is not.

Sorry this was just me rambling. No one come at me lol my anxiety can take that shiz and is shown by how much a actually give any opinion on here.

I've never wanted their content to look more professional. I find stuff like the dining table dvp board and dodgy green-screen work massively endearing. I also like that nobody else is involved with the scripting/editing of their videos. It keeps things feeling personal. So while I really don't mind the way things are now- with them having a filming space and a living space but showing us both, I'd hate for it to get less personal than that. I think for me the best thing would be if they had designated filming rooms in their new place or "sets" so nobody films in a bedroom anymore, but we also got to see some of the rest of the place in stuff like instagram stories/ liveshows/ sketches/ditl. I guess then the baking vids would be in their actual kitchen again too.

I agree with @glitterintheair that the familiarity of their old apartment was definitely part of their charm and I do miss it.

Sidenote I've always wondered if their place now is two apartments that have been made into one- like they're leased together and maybe there's some kind of door/lift/private staircase connecting them. Mostly cause otherwise it seems a bit awkward occasionally passing between the two with filming equipment, and what if you get down to the filming apartment and realise you've forgot something.

@opendoor I can't remember the exact layout of the building, but for some reason my instinct is that it wouldn't be possible to connect the flats privately because I don't think they were directly above/beneath each other. I could be remembering wrong though. I think they probably keep most of the filming equipment down in the filming flat, so there probably isn't much lugging back and forth, other than the few times they film in their living flat

Phil can upload a 10 minute video detailing everything he’s eaten so far this year and I will lap that shit up.

Not gonna lie, this would be a pretty damn good video. I can already imagine an AmazingPhil video with good food pictures and Phil's commentary and review on each one of them. Knowing Phil, it wouldn't be a 'normal' commentary, I'm sure he could find a way to insert a sexual innuendo somewhere lol. I honestly just love the way Phil's mind works. Luvluvluv

The dc always makes me think Dan should take a year or two and just go chill somewhere where no one knows him from YouTube. Do something other than share himself or his creations with an audience. The themes Dan describes relating to the audience and his relationship to the audience are just way too unhealthy.

With Phil I think it’s just about striking the right work-life balance, and I don't doubt he’s capable of that.

This. A break where he could think and relax would be nice for Dan. And maybe...without Phil? Idk, I just think he should spend some time alone. They have been inseparable for the last few years and it would maybe do good for them to spend time without each other, preferably with family and close friends on a holiday. Sorry, I'm just rambling.

Anyway, I hope Phil finds that balance, especially after the whole fainting thing. But he did promise to take care of himself better, so that's good.

The Two Flats Theory, as in two completely separate apartments, one for living and one for filming, was started by @blackdenim on this forum in mid 2017. The awareness of two separate living spaces (two kitchens, two living rooms, many bedrooms and bathrooms) is just from observations since they moved.

And @knq is right, the lying has actually been pretty minimal from the beginning with Phil more inclined to put on a charade than Dan. It’s kind of amusing going back and seeing their different attitudes. In their first live show Phil says something like “one fact: this apartment is a duplex” and Dan immediately questions him, “is it?” Because they were in the filming flat which, as far as we have seen, has all the rooms on the same level, whereas the living flat is the one with the stairs. Also Phil tried to do live shows from there for awhile, despite worse wifi, whereas Dan never even bothered.

And I agree that not being upfront about the arrangement does hinge a lot on perceived authenticity, as well as safety and privacy. Still very curious about this year.

A bit of sad YouTube news happening on Tuesday - they're removing old annotations eg Phil's lion conversations and it affects the way his interactive videos work, although they're still on YouTube via playlists. Dan had some in his early videos too. I don't think the gaming channel has at all, though (Phil stopped using them, more or less, by 2014). Source - https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7342737

I've been using OBS to screen-record and thought I'd mention it in case people using Windows have time to make their own version of the interactive videos (my copy will have my choices of which order I click, is all, also it takes a moment to load each clip and make them fullscreen). OBS is available for Mac, but doesn't record desktop audio for some reason so that needs another program and patience to put the two files together afterwards.

On Windows, though, the Window Capture setting under Sources works great in OBS, it just picks up the same browser window so it keeps recording as you click through on YouTube (other settings I've changed are to not capture the mouse cursor and to save as mp4 which I now find doesn't necessarily work with the free editing programs, but hopefully I can find one to edit off the recommended video thumbnails at the ends [they're a bit out there sometimes] or convert them first).

I honesty find the idea of D&P admitting they have two apartments weirder than them having two apartments. Why would they bring that up? It's not something people outside of IDB even know or talk about and I think the type of honesty that people generally want from creators has more to do with their personality and life and not so much their housing situation.

I think they're at a place where they could get an office space and be open about it. That gives Phil the opportunity to change his set without addressing the anything concerning bedrooms etc.
It would also further separate work and non-work and at the same time they would look more professional if they're seeking non-youtube work/projects. Basically a win-win.

IF they're moving soonish and IF they want a place to stay more longterm they really should keep that place more private. That's why I'm a bit confused about the whole "forever home" excitement. If I were them, I wouldn't want the phandom to know anything about a more permanent home. And even though they haven't really followed through at all, I think they wanted to keep their living spaces more private after the last move. So I'm assuming that would be an objective for them in the future as well.

So, a separate office space would not only be more professional (and good for their mental health), and it could give them a good opportunity to keep their (new) home a private place.

Not a big fan of the idea of them having an office space but who knows, it might work for them. Dan did say last year he might wanna make his videos more professional-looking and have people helping him with editing, filming, lighting and whatnot.

I do agree with you though that D&P would probably want to keep a house they buy more private than the apartments they've rented so far. Whenever they get their forever home (which I don't think will be anytime soon), I don't really expect them to share much of it with us tbh.

The Two Flats Theory, as in two completely separate apartments, one for living and one for filming, was started by @blackdenim on this forum in mid 2017. The awareness of two separate living spaces (two kitchens, two living rooms, many bedrooms and bathrooms) is just from observations since they moved.

blackdenim and everyone else that started the theory based entirely on observation deserve like... an award or something for uncovering all of that! but at this point it's definitely been proven by more than just what's seen in videos. enough people know it as fact that it's alright to acknowledge that it's not just a theory on here, as long as nothing is posted that violates a rule or compromises dan and phil's location.

I agree about the pattern of lying but I also think keeping people guessing at first about the layout of the flat(s) was the easiest route for them to go to avoid having people figure out their address through floor plans and whatever (I think it was Dan who said in a liveshow something along the lines of don't even bother trying to figure out the layout/how many floors this place has? idk maybe I made that up). And yeah, not panicking the phandom too. I think lying about it worked to avoid having people think they lived separately since the amazingphil room is in the filming flat, and along those lines I think that maybe in 2017 they weren't 100% ready to blatantly put up the glass wall about the moon room. I guess with that I'm comparing it to them doing solo liveshows from the respective rooms and making more individually focused comments about the rooms versus that moment in witl where Phil's filming Dan in bed at 2 am (and of course the amazingphil room was nowhere to be seen in the entire video).

Slightly off from the question but I also want to say I don't think they're getting rid of the filming flat because their main thing when moving was storage and most of their shit from the last flat ended up in the filming flat, so if they're getting rid of it...where's their shit gonna go? (Unless they're getting rid of both which is the hill I'm dying on)

can i die on that hill with you please? i like this response a lot.

you have a point that also kinda leads to the conclusion that like... in some ways, them not identifying that they're in 2 flats helped avoid a whole different, entirely shittier kind of lie. because it's true that i can't really imagine them being like, "there are two flats! but nonono, us platonic friends are definitely still sharing one of them. the other's for filming!" better to just... not.

i feel like it's perfectly reasonable for them to invest in a storage unit for all the extra shit they don't really touch. they don't need a whole-ass other flat for it. and they live in a fancy penthouse, so there's definitely spaces we've not seen that they could potentially film gaming in front of. phil could easily make the live show spot with bryony's painting his filming space. gaming could happen elsewhere. i don't think its entirely unreasonable to get rid of the filming flat. but also like.... stop wasting money, boys. buy a forever home.

IF they're moving soonish and IF they want a place to stay more longterm they really should keep that place more private. That's why I'm a bit confused about the whole "forever home" excitement. If I were them, I wouldn't want the phandom to know anything about a more permanent home. And even though they haven't really followed through at all, I think they wanted to keep their living spaces more private after the last move. So I'm assuming that would be an objective for them in the future as well.

So, a separate office space would not only be more professional (and good for their mental health), and it could give them a good opportunity to keep their (new) home a private place.

see, I envision them buying a place and entirely remodeling everything inside of it to the degree that there's no way anyone could identify what house they bought and where they bought it. this way they'd be able to share the place with us, the layout, their design choices, etc, without fear of losing their privacy.

because if there's anything we've learned in the last year or 2, it's that they're lazy and filming at home is easiest for them. that gives them the best of both worlds.

I noticed we haven't made timestamps for any of the liveshows Dan and Phil did in 2015. We have our 'pre-2015' thread and then individual threads for some of the shows starting in 2016, but no 2015. After some investigation, I have developed a theory that this is because making timestamps is so time consuming! I wanted to add some 2015 liveshows to the timestamps board, but when I look at my notes afterwards they're such a mess and even I don't understand what I was writing some of the time. I did want to share a few interesting moments I came across with you guys though!

Oct 4 2015 As we've had discussions about social anxiety here before I found this response Phil gave to someone asking for advice on 'social awkwardness' super relevant.

"A lot of people have got actual social anxiety which is something that I can't really relate to that much because I don't have it. But I do have it in a different way where say if I'm going to a party or meeting people for the first time I will be a bit nervous and be like 'uh I don't know what to say, what if I say something stupid?'' [...] But most people have a little bit of that in them. But yeah, actual anxiety must be horrible, having watched a few videos about it and stuff."

I'm guessing 'stuff' includes having a partner who'd been in therapy for a little under a year at that point, not that I'd expect or want Phil to say that. I was surprised that I'd never seen this clip before as I tend to be interested in the anxiety discussions.

Jan 20 2015 Dan's grandma had a parrot that Dan loved and instead of teaching it to speak, Dan taught it a dance routine. They would "mirror each other." Apparently no one believes Dan and he's salty. I'd just like us all to take a moment and picture Dan mirroring a dance routine with a parrot. Yeah. Yep. Apparently that's a thing.

Feb 1 2015 Phil got bitten on the ear by a monkey as a child. Because of course he did.

I'm still yet to join team Two Flats, there's just something about the frivolous expense it is that makes me hesitate. I missed out on all the initial excitement - does anyone have a compilation of 2 flats proof?

Re: Dan getting a crew to help him out with videos - I can't see that happening either. I don't think the kind of videos Dan likes to make require anyone more than Phil to help him hold the camera. I can't see Dan starting to make videos that need any manpower either... to be honest I'm not entirely sure why Dan makes videos, he started out with relatable skits but the trend of popular videos and Dan's own interests have shifted so much that I'm not sure where Dan's place on YouTube is.

My own messy feelings under the cut:

I think I'm really struggling to envision their individual content in 5 years. I would not be surprised if Dan just never comes back to YouTube or quits soon (I think he has mostly outgrown his relationship with his audience and fame at this point) and I reckon Phil might continue doing the same thing he has been doing for years and viewership will slowly tail off.

I feel like I'm being a Negative Nancy here, but I don't mean to be. I just feel like Dan has grown so much over the past few years that he maybe needs to find a new direction, be that different video styles, or a new outlet of expression entirely. His channel doesn't really seem to suit him anymore.

Or maybe I'm just outgrowing D&P (Phil, especially, which makes me sad because his videos really were a big part of my life over the past few difficult years) and they're just no longer my cup of tea. Maybe it's time for me to hang up the old Phan goggles?

Re: Dan getting a crew to help him out with videos - I can't see that happening either. I don't think the kind of videos Dan likes to make require anyone more than Phil to help him hold the camera. I can't see Dan starting to make videos that need any manpower either... to be honest I'm not entirely sure why Dan makes videos, he started out with relatable skits but the trend of popular videos and Dan's own interests have shifted so much that I'm not sure where Dan's place on YouTube is.

Completely agree, I almost think he is too independent in nature to ever really want a team of that level. Saying that, I feel that if he wanted to become some kind of producer/director and had the resource to do it, I’m sure he would excel. Over the past year, it seems to me that he is getting tired of YouTube and the kind of content that is popular right now. I remember when Charlie McDonnell was funded by YouTube to make a few short films quite a while ago - I feel like short film could be a good outlet for Dan as well if he ever wanted to go down that path.

Ooo Heartthrob in Phil’s instastory. I wonder if they’re just playing (perhaps with friends) or dare I hope filming it (perhaps as a collab), oh wait... gaming hiatus. Ok have fun, guys. Ah they’re playing with Bryony, of course.

Since we're discussing future content : do you think Dan might branch out into music at some point?

It's the one thing that he's been consistently passionate about! He almost talks about music like a religious experience He knows the basics of piano and even if he's never written a "serious" song (as far as we know) I feel like it's something he might be good at?
Maybe I'm just projecting here but I feel like music might be something that he's always wanted to do but never allowed himself to think about it seriously? And songwriting (or any kind of writing really) could be really therapeutic! He's got a lot of feelings to deal with and opinions to share and music is kind of the perfect medium for that? Plus he did say he needs to feel challenged to find inspiration and be motivated which is something I've heard a lot of singers say!

That or even just a KEXP style podcast/radio show : half performances, half chatting with artists about real things, and what inspires them, and not just the same 5 questions they always have to answer !
I don't know maybe I'm totally imagining things but there's just something about Dan that screams music to me!

I don't know maybe I'm totally imagining things but there's just something about Dan that screams music to me!

Ooh! I can totally I understand this. I can see Dan exploring maybe songwriting and production that would be incredibly interesting to actually see. And he does seem to talk about it so passionately that I think it would be something he'd enjoy trying out. I'm not sure though, this is also just my brain being imaginative.

But my secret wish and the hill I would like to eventually end up on is that Phil's eventual career step is he becomes the Great British Bake Off host. I'd obviously love Dan to do it with him because they have amazing chemistry but I'd take just Phil.

I feel like a danger with Dan is that anything he tries to turn into a career is immediately going to have a load of pressure and expectation served up along with it, which might effectively kill the passion.

---- I had more to say but I just read the "Phil as GBBO host" post and now I want nothing else out of life.

Oh, God Phil hosting GBBO would be the greatest thing to ever happen to television. The real question is should he be with Sandy or Noel? I think he and Noel could play well off of each other. or they just get Dan too

He would be so encouraging and excited for the bakers imagine him sampling everything and doing his little scrunchy face ugh

Agree on Dan immediately feeling pressure if he wants to make it a career. So much of it is just him overthinking, but I do wish he’d do something with his love of music. Maybe another BBC doc?

Ok Phil as GBBO host is the thing dreams are made of. Like it fits so perfectly and now that you mentioned it, it's all I want.

I can imagine dan using his channel to do in depth music reviews but not actually producing music. I don't remember the exact words he used but I think dan mentioned in a ls once that he wouldn't want to play music because he believes he's not very good yet his audience makes him seem like he's the most amazing musician ever, which is an insult to people who actually do music as their career. Granted he said this two/three years ago so perhaps his opinions have changed considering he played piano at ii.

Oh, God Phil hosting GBBO would be the greatest thing to ever happen to television. The real question is should he be with Sandy or Noel? I think he and Noel could play well off of each other. or they just get Dan too

He would be so encouraging and excited for the bakers imagine him sampling everything and doing his little scrunchy face ugh

I am so glad that other people are into this. My SO and I watched the whole last season replacing Sandy with Dan and Noel with Phil (thought I kinda want all 4 of them in there because I love all of them) and it just WORKS SO WELL.